I bought my 07 RL over the summer so this is my first winter with the car. I use the AUTO setting and adjust the temperature if needed. During the summer when the AC was needed, the temp in the car seemed fine. I left it on 68 most of the time. But now that I need heat, I just can't get a comfortable climate in the car unless I constantly make adjustments. It is either too hot, too cold or there is no air movement and it gets really stuffy.
In my previous car (Cadillac), I set the temperature in auto mode and I rarely had to touch it again the entire 5 years I had the car. Even if the set temp was attained, at least some air still came out of the vents so you were comfortable. In the RL, there is no air movement unless the system thinks it needs to change the temp. I can drive for an hour to work and the fan never comes on. Is this the way it should operate?
Also, setting at 68 in summer was fine, but now in winter, it gets hot in the car at a 68 setting and I'm always turning it down to 64 or 65 to be comfortable. At a 65 setting, it is about 70 in the car. That shouldn't be.
My car is due for A1 service on Friday so if something is wrong with the climate control system, I would like to get it corrected.
Thanks for any help.

 

I have an 05 and have complained about this before. My symptoms are a bit different though. I set at 69 in the morning and then have to adjust up to 75 in the afternoon or it freezes me out. But agree that having to adjust a lot does not make sense. Sometimes after driving for a while (at least 30 minutes) and everything feels comfortable, the system just "decides" to blow hot or cold air and I have to adjust the setting for it to stop.
Auto control in my old Ford Explorer worked better.

 

Mine seems to work just fine. I never have to move it beyond 70.

 

There is supposed to be some fresh air introduced into the car at all times as a safety measure. Especially at this time of year, it often comes in through the heater or the defroster vents, so it may not be as noticeable as when it comes through the dash vents.

Having said that, I agree the "temperature holding" qualities of the RL are not as good as in some cars. It should be *better*, as it has GPS-sensing and all that stuff, but mine isn't.

One thing about mine is that I have to set it at a lower temp than any other car in the summer, yet in the winter it seems to be fine. IOW, I have to go with a temp of maybe 65-66 in the summer to be comfortable, while 70-72 works fine in the winter. In my MDX, 65 would give me iceballs in about a mile or two.

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Geez...I have mine set at 68 (both sides) and don't remember ever changing it.

LL

 

I have an '06 RL. I agree wholeheartedly with the original poster that when on Auto setting, constant manual temperature adjustments are required to counter something the system is doing to make the car uncomfortable, either too hot, too cold, no air flow or too hot in front while too cold for the rear passengers, etc.

It seems to me that something in the system as designed just doesn't work to properly maintain a set temperature. I suspect that the system might be too complicated with GPS, day/night and outside/inside measurements going on all of the time and being translated into A/C system actions.

I think there have been so many complaints about all of this on these forums that it is likely more of a system design issue that a problem with any individual vehicle.

 

Like ed111 says, this is apparently a system design issue with the 2nd gen RL. Our 1st gen Rl was set at 72 degrees and never moved. Our 2006 RL on cold days has to be initially set at 68 and after 30 minutes bumped down to 65 degrees. I only see this on days colder than 42 degrees. There is some software or sensor placement issue that is leading to this condition. With all the postings over the past three years regarding this issue, I'm sure Acura will get it right with the 3rd Gen RL.

 

My 2006's climate control works fine. Mine stays at 70-72 year-round and I rarely have to touch it. Even so, there have been enough complaints about the system that there could be a systemic problem.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am going to print out this thread and give it to my service manager on Friday and see what he thinks.

 

I have the same issue and I've got a TL. I've chalked it up to the position the sensor is in. I'm not real sure where the temp sensors are inside the vehicle, but I know the car seems to warm up just fine, but everything i touch is still cold. I think this is transferring into the sensor, and it is trying to compensate for the plastic being 40 degrees (not taking into consideration ambiant air temp).

That's just my

 

Did you know you cant get your color combo any more?

I'd love to get blue/ebony but it's not available in 08. Post a pic or two if you can.

Thanks.

 

my car settings is 69 or 70. It is amazing to me the difference between the two temps. Seems to make a 2-3 degree difference. I use these temps year round and have been happy. During the summer I had to close the fresh air intake because on really hot days there wasn't enough ac without doing that.

 

Just to follow up. . .

I had my RL in for the power steering hose recall repair today. Dealer just called to advise car is ready. I had them check the climate control system and, as expected, am advised that it is working "as designed".

I know there is more to this issue. . .

 

In addition to the '07 RL, I have an '05 Honda Odyessey Touring, and although the functions are exactly the same as the RL's system, I have noted that the two systems are quite different in terms of their outputs. Its hard to put into words, but here goes:

The RL seems to act more like a household thermostat. For example, if I crank up the temperature (heat) to 85, then, after it warms up a bit, bring it down to 72, the system blasts cold air trying to quickly get to that temperature. Even with A/C off, recirculate, etc., doesn't seem to change the response. The Ody's system doesn't do that. It acts more like the typical car. If I crank full hot, and then set lower, it will blast less hot air, rather than start putting out cold air. I can blast the Ody's system on full hot, and then bring it back down without getting a blast of cold air (unless I turn it down past 65 or so).

I have started to just set the RL's temperature at what I eventually want it to be at, rather than trying to jump ahead by setting it on "Hi" and then bringing it down. This seems to be how it likes to work. However, I have had a few times when I set it on 70, and wanted to bring the temperature down a few degrees (say, to 68) and was still greeted with a brief blast of cool air. I do think Acura needs to adjust the system (merely by doing whatever they are doing with the Ody's system and do the same with the RLs).

Hope that made some sense...

 

Mine is always set at 68 never needs adjustment, maybe there's some Rl's out there with wonky sensors.
The only irritant I have when its very cold (below zero) is that my ANC goes whacky and I get a whinny noise through the speakers for a minute or so after startup. I'm sure that it has to do with the interior mike since I can vary the sound by covering the mike hole with my finger. Since I live 120 miles from a dealership I have just accepted it as a minor infrequent annoyance.

 

I was at the dealer Friday and they could find nothing wrong with my system. So what I am doing now is not using the AUTO setting. I will use that setting in the summer only. I always like some air movement thru the dash vents even if no temp change is needed. With the AUTO setting, the fan stops for very long periods and the interior gets hot and stuffy. I have set the temp to 68-70, but I have the fan setting on #3 and blowing thru the dash and floor all the time. This has made a big improvement to comfort in the interior.